To throw a tad more semiconductor die release agent on the Google+YouTube stuff: the amount of dosh the big G has just coughed up for the piffling video upstart is reported to be around the £850m mark. Which, where I come from, is a lot of money. It also happens to be roughly the annual production spend of (UK national commercial TV broadcaster) ITV1.
Simultaneously, it's reported that ITV is having problems finding a suitable chief exec. Also, their advertising revenue is predicted to be down 13% year-on-year, with a further 10% predicted fall for next year. Ouchie.
The question is -- where is that advertising money going? If even some of it ends up at YouTube, then (given that they have 67 staff and no production expenses, since they don't actually make anything), the price Google have paid starts to look plausible. And ITV's difficulty in attracting a head honcho speaks well of the potential candidates -- they're evidently savvy enough to recognise a colander disguised as a boat when they see one.
